Kimes Kicks off Big Sky Meet with Near-School Record

May 15, 2014

Sophomore places sixth in two-day, seven-event competition with
personal bests in four events

Jozie Kimes got the momentum going early for
the Eastern Washington University track and field teams at the Big
Sky Outdoor Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz., as the sophomore
recorded a new personal-best score to place sixth in the heptathlon
Wednesday and Thursday (May 13-14), scoring three points to put the
Eagle women on the board in team-scoring and nearly breaking a
school record in the process.

“It was phenomenal, Jozie came in with the mindset that
she was going to PR in almost every event,” said
jumps/multi-events coach Erik Rasmussen. “She’s just a
testament that if you put in the work then there’s no limit
to what you can achieve.”

Coming into the meet with a then-personal best of 4,429, Kimes
put together two seasonal bests to open the competition Wednesday.
She clocked a time of 15.22 in the 100 hurdles, good for 813
points. Kimes then cleared the bar at 5-3 in the high jump, earning
736 points. The sophomore capped the first day with two personal
bests, getting off a toss of 31-8 in the shot put (507) and running
26.41 in the 200 (762). She ranked ninth amongst the field with a
score of 2,818 in the first four events.

Thursday Kimes continued to have that edge, starting day two
with a personal-best leap of 17-10 1/4 in the long jump, giving her
683 points. The Cashmere, Wash., native followed with a throw of
110-4 (546) in the javelin, making up ground on most of the field
with the fourth-best mark to move into scoring position. She capped
the competition with her fourth personal-best performance,
finishing third in the 800 with a time of 2:23.41 for 778
points.

“It was very easy from a coaching perspective,” said
Rasmussen. “I gave her a few tips technically, but she just
has such a strong determination and grit to get things
done.”

That gave Kimes a total score of 4.825 in the heptathlon, a new
best by 396 points that ranks second in school history. She now
only trails school-record holder Christie Kight, who had a score of
4,850 in 2003.

“Just missing that school record is a big
milestone,” said Rasmussen, “She put together a strong
string of performances and all the credit goes to her.”

Kimes was sixth in the event, finishing just 39 points off of
fifth place and 149 points from a top-three All-Big Sky
performance. Montana’s Lindsey Hall won the heptathlon with a
score of 5,401, just holding off Montana State’s Carley
McCutchen (5,391).

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” said
Rasmussen, “A lot of people were surprised, but I could
have told you that she is going to score no matter what.
That’s just who Jozie is."

For Kimes, this isn’t her only event of the weekend, as
she will be competing in the 400-meter hurdle prelims tomorrow. She
has run a personal best of 1:03.38 this season, which ranks ninth
all-time at Eastern.

With the multi-events wrapping up Thursday, the regular portion
of the Big Sky meet will begin Friday. The field events will start
at 10 a.m., and the running events will go at 3 p.m.
(PST).